Chapter 1443: 706 The Truth of That Year (Two Updates)

The heavy rain poured down, and under the eaves on both sides of the street were crowded with vendors pushing their carts and pedestrians seeking shelter from the rain. Occasionally, a pedestrian would pass by with an umbrella, but soon sought refuge in the shops to escape the rain.

A horse carriage slowly made its way through the rainwater from the eastern end of the street.

The rain was too heavy, the roads slippery, and with limited visibility, the coachman dared not drive too fast.

Suddenly, the sound of a fast-approaching horse carriage came from behind; a swift steed, desperate to get somewhere, overtook the carriage and zipped past!

Master Jing, who had just opened the carriage window to see whose horse was running so fast, got his face splashed with rainwater kicked up by the horse’s hooves.

Master Jing: “…”

Master Jing was indeed infuriated. He wiped his face clean of the rainwater, closed the window, and peered out of the curtain at the galloping horse. He recognized it at a glance.

“Hey? Big brother, see, isn’t that the horse from Tianqiong Academy? The particularly wild one!”

The tale of the Horse King’s battle against Hei Fengqi had already become legendary in the ball-kicking circles, known by all who paid attention to the matches; Tianqiong Academy had a horse that could outperform Hei Fengqi.

The Duke sat next to Master Jing, his gaze profoundly following the direction in which the horse disappeared. The horse ran too fast, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.

Yet, he managed to lift his slender fingers with difficulty and tapped on the armrest of his wheelchair.

This indicated yes.

If it had been two taps, then it would have meant no.

“Strange, how could that horse have come here?” Master Jing pushed open the window again, sticking his head out in the rain, and looked back. Not seeing Tianqiong Academy’s carriage, he felt even more perplexed.

The Duke lifted his hand, touched the cinnabar on the armrest, and with trembling fingertips laboriously wrote a single word: “Chase.”

…

The rain was intensifying, and although the horses of Duke Residence were top-notch, catching up to the Horse King’s speed was indeed very difficult.

Fortunately, the Horse King was stopping intermittently as if searching for something, so its speed was not always fast.

They followed the Horse King into an increasingly desolate and quiet street.

“This is…” Master Jing’s expression suddenly changed.

Once the most bustling place in Shengdu, with a constant stream of carriages and visitors, people seeking an audience were as plentiful as carps crossing a river; if each visitor left a calling card, it could take days or even weeks to get in.

But now, the street had long since changed.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

Heavy thudding sounds came from ahead following the downpour, each one seeming to strike at one’s heart.

Master Jing lifted the curtain to look: “That direction is…”

Hei Fengqi had injured itself, its head bloody and body covered in wounds.

The Horse King, seeing it from afar, galloped toward it relentlessly.

The Horse King looked on with a puzzled face, not understanding why it insisted on ramming the door.

Seeing Hei Fengqi ramming, the Horse King followed suit.

However, the Horse King did not understand what the dilapidated residence meant to Hei Fengqi; it raised its powerful forehooves, ready to trample the chained gates.

Unexpectedly, Hei Fengqi managed to thrust the Horse King aside.

The Horse King cocked its head, looking bemusedly at it.

Hei Fengqi continued to use its head and body to ram the door.

The carriage from Duke Residence halted not far away.

Master Jing parted the curtains, with rain striking him and the Duke face on.

The Duke watched intently, his hand on the armrest tightening bit by bit.

Mixed feelings arose in Master Jing’s heart. Looking at Hei Fengqi, he frowned and said, “What’s wrong with that horse? Has it gone mad? It’ll die if it keeps ramming like that!”

Hei Fengqi was severely injured. When it would not let the Horse King ram, the two horses fought each other.

While the horses were locked in an uncontrollable tussle, the coachman suddenly called out, “Duke, Master Jing! Someone is coming over there!”

It was a youth riding a tall steed, holding the reins in one hand and a Red-Tasseled Spear in the other, charging through the heavy rain. Drenched by the rain, his hair chaotically stuck to his face, yet his calm eyes shone with unruly composure.

He spurred his horse toward the Xuanyuan Family residence.

Master Jing was involuntarily lost in a daze.

Was it the heavy rain or a vivid imagination that clouded his mind?

He seemed to see his uncle returning from the Military Camp, carrying that same unconstrained demeanor.

Right on this street, in front of this residence.

His uncle dismounted and walked up the steps, pushing open the doors to the Residence as he always did–